﻿This is the story ofhatred,﻿ forgiveness﻿, ﻿redemption﻿and ﻿tender﻿ love.﻿

Abandoned at five days and orphaned at fifteen years, Mary Kate Jackson vows on her dead parents' grave she will keep the forty-acre family farm. Her elderly neighbor and coveter of the Jackson farm offers to buy her out. Mary Kate refuses, but he does not relent. A deadly dance begins between the old man and the young woman wherein hatred is born and nurtured. Forces converge to aid each in their quest, but Mary Kate attracts the attention of the Cherokee spirit people and the chief of the Wolf Clan in particular. The playing field is leveled with seven circles, and the greatest miracle of all, forgiveness, rises like the dawn on the souls of Mary Kate Jackson and Thomas Ellsworth.

Redemption, however, waits a whole lifetime.

Stellar Reviews of The Seventh Circle

The cover blurb describing “The Seventh Circle” promises an exciting read, but it doesn’t begin to describe all the wonder, humor, romance and magic that has this little book practically bursting at the seams! I can’t remember enjoying a book more. I was entranced by the question of what would become of the orphaned Mary Kate “fifteen, well-built and strong, and naïve as dirt.” Naïve, but not dumb. This girl is smart enough to appreciate even the strangest opportunities – and there are plenty of them to be found here. Barbara Lee’s offbeat storytelling style reminds me of Tom Robbins in “Even Cowgirls Get the Blues,” but it never suffers from unrelenting almost psychedelic grotesqueness the way his does. Lee’s characters definitely have their quirks, but they manage to feel unexpectedly real, even the spirit helpers who show up at interesting moments. Lee made me care about all of them. The book is unclassifiable, so leave your expectations behind and enjoy a wild, sweet, otherworldly ride.Susan Z. Bono

2) I want you to know how much I loved your novella, which I read on Sat morning. It filled me with everything it should. I laughed at the language, took note and enjoyed the building drama, adored the information about country life--canning, skinning, moccasins!, all the romances, etc, etc, etc.--then the spiritual teachings encircled the drama in a wonderful, once again, educational way. I laughed, and I cried at the end. What more could a reader want, except more from you.Robyn Koski